


Dragon Magic

by Akiten



Category: Dragons in our midst
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 20:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1955619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiten/pseuds/Akiten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angel always knew what she was. She's a half dragon. What she doesn't know, is how to control herself and if it'll get any worse. Only time will tell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This "book" was inspired my many i have read, including Raising Dragons and just a tinsy bit of Harry Potter.

I ran as fast as I could with Heather crashing through the forest not far behind. That's when I fell.  
“No no no!" I said as blood red scales started to pop out my skin and my skin got tighter. I felt something grab my shirt and me up. I'm not very big, but if you saw me as I really am you wouldn't even be up to my neck. The reason I was running was because I was in school and really ticked off.  
“I got you and now you're going to pay." Heather said holding a knife to my throat. Just in time the scales that protect my neck popped out. The rest I can't really explain what happens, but if you ever seen Hulk transform when he's mad you kind of get an idea of what happens when I'm mad. Unlike Hulk though I can hold it for at least a minute. Without thinking I opened my mouth to yell stop, but out came a stream of bright red fire.  
Unless you already guessed what I am I'm a half dragon. You see my dad is a dragon, but he can hide in human skin, and my mother is a witch. You know like in Harry Potter, does a bunch of spells and potions and all that junk. Well mother enrolled my older sister (who can't transform into a dragon) and me in a school for magical kids hidden in the U.S. She thought I wouldn't go full hulk (that's what my sister calls my transformation), but boy was she wrong. So far this year it happened five times.  
Anyway I singed the hair off Heathers' arms melting the knife. That gave me enough time to push away and keep running until my wings ripped my shirt and my body grew bigger. Then with one push down with my wings I was in the air in full dragon form flying to the safe house I found in the woods not long into the school year. Then I heard a beeping that got louder each beep. Then something hit my stomach hard.  
Then I jolted up from where I was. I was dreaming. Well not really, usually I have visions in my sleep. So it gets weird knowing what's going to happen.  
“Angel get up!" said my roommate Lucy. She was the only one not in my family who knew my secret. “Come on you're going Hulk."  
“I was?" I asked groggily as a puff of smoke came out my nose.  
“Yes scale ears. Come on class starts in one hour get dressed."  
“Okay, okay." I yawned getting up.  
The school uniform was different for each building. For example my building Dragon Hall(Ironic right) has red dresses for the girls and the boys red shirts, dark dress pants, and black jackets. I'm okay with the color, but I hate wearing dresses so I don't know whether to hate it or love it. After I got dressed I heated up some coffee and drank it all in five seconds flat. Then I headed to my first class with books in hand. Standing outside was my boyfriend Jason.  
“Hey Angel." he said cheerfully.  
“Hey Jason." I yawned.  
“What? No hug? no kiss?"  
"Sorry. Oh I want to talk to you after school."  
“Okay. What time?"  
“Five in front of the forest."  
“Why?"  
“I need to show you something.”  
“Okay bye."  
“Bye. Remember five. Be there."


	2. Chapter 2

So the rest of the day went how it usually goes: Going to class, getting homework, practicing, and eating. At four school ended so I had an hour to kill before I had to meet Jason. So I went back to the room grabbed a bag, some clothes, and a book. I ran to the forest, climbed a tree, found a branch, sat down, and started to read. About halfway through the book I heard soft footsteps and smelled Jason's cologne.  
    “I know you're there Jason. I told you no one can sneak up on me." I said.  
    “You take all the fun trying to scare you." whined Jason “What did you want to show me? And please come down where I can see you."  
    “Follow me." I said jumping down from where I sat and walked deeper into the forest. “I am about to show you something only my family and Lucy know about. You have to promise not to tell anyone. Alright?"  
    “I promise."  
    “Be back in a minute." I said walking into a large clump of bushes. I took off my clothes sat down and concentrated as hard I could. When I felt the fire smoldering in my lungs and my talons sank into the ground. I walked out on all four feet. As soon as Jason saw me he grabbed his wand  
    “Angel! Come back! There’s a dragon out here!” he yelled.  
    “Calm down Jason. It’s just me.” I said soothingly.  
    You know what he did? He fainted.  I chuckled when he did the same thing Lucy did when she found out. Staying calm I grabbed him in my talons and carried him to the safe house. I shoved the door open with my tail and set him down on the floor. Walking behind more bushes I unhulked and got dressed. Walking inside I picked up Jason and put him on the bed. After five minutes he woke up.  
    “I had the weirdest dream where you were a dragon.” He said sitting up.” Where am I?”  
    “The safe house I found earlier in the school year.” I answered “And you weren’t dreaming. I really am a dragon.”  
    “I don’t believe you.” He said.  
    “I think that’s a challenge.” I said walking outside.” Come on. You want proof you’ll get it.” I stood and let my emotions take over. It was the fastest it ever took me to Hulk out. Opening my jaws I let out a torrent of flames. Lifting my wings I jumped up and hovered above the ground. “Now do you believe me?”  
    “Yep.” He said as I landed.  
    “Get on my back. It’s time to go back.” I said crouching down to let him climb up. When he got up I said “Hold on tight to one of my spikes.” Lifting my wings I jumped up and flew to where I left my clothes earlier.”We’re here.” I said crouching down to let Jason down.”Go over there to the clearing. I’ll be there in a minute.”  
    “O-okay.” Jason said shakily walking away. Unhulking I noticed a herd of deer so I stopped and chased after them. I caught a plump doe with one swipe of my talons then ate her in two bites. When I finished I went back to the bush unhulked and got dressed.  
    “Ready.” I said licking the rest of the deer out of my hands.  
    “What was that in your hand?”  
    “Deer. It’s really good. Let’s get back to school.”  
    “Why were you eating deer?”  
    “I was hungry.”I said walking back to school.”Come on slow poke. Or do you want to race?”  
    “Let’s race. You can have a ten second head start.”  
    “Nope. I am not a petty human. You can have a twenty second head start.”  
    “Fine but I’ll get there first.”  
    “Ready, go!” After twenty seconds I started running and past Jason after ten seconds and was at the edge of the forest in five more. Getting bored I remembered my book was still in the tree so I climbed up the tree and started reading After five minutes I heard loud footsteps and smelled sweat. “I told you I would be here before you.”  
    “Dang it! You warned me and I ignored you. Come out so I could see if you’re gloating.”  
    “Okay.” I said jumping down.”You hungry?”  
    “I could eat if I didn’t hear you say you ate a deer.” He panted.  
“Oh well. Let’s go.” Inside we walked down the halls as fast as we could. I could have been at the cafeteria in ten seconds if Jason weren’t there, but unfortunately he was so I slowed down for his sake.  “Come on. We’re going to be late.”  
    “I have an idea. Why don’t you carry me there?” He suggested “If you’re so strong and fast why not?”  
    “No. Two reasons. One: It would be awkward. Two: We’re in public. “I said “How about I push you there?”  
    “Okay.” He said nervously. Standing behind him I put my hands firmly on his back and walked as fast as I could. After five seconds I smelled burning rubber. It was the soles of Jason’s shoes. Not wanting to wear them out I lifted Jason an inch off the floor and kept running. After another five seconds we were at the cafeteria.  
    “We’re here.” I whispered “You can open your eyes now.”  
    “I thought you weren’t going to carry me?”  
    “Your shoes were burning. See?” I said pointing to the smoke coming off his shoes.  Oh yeah did I tell you I can stop fire with lots of concentration. I can flame up anything whenever I want even water. After two seconds his shoes stopped smoking. “You might want some new shoes.”  
    “Did you do that?” He said quietly.  
    “Yep.” I said sitting down at the far corner of the table for dragon hall.  
    “Miss Johnson. Come here please.” Said a rough voice.  
    “Uh-oh.” I mumbled to myself. “Yes Mr. Garcia?” I said walking over to him.  
    “It didn’t happen again did it?”  
    “No sir. But I got hungry two hours ago and chased some deer.” I lied.  
    “Okay but remember how much I worry about you.” He said quietly so only I could hear. I think that I’m his favorite student because I’m the first to raise my hand in monster taming class for both volunteers and to answer questions. “If you see anything weird get out of the forest right away. I don’t care if someone sees you just get out.”  
    “Yes sir. I’ll do that right away.” I said eyeing a plate of  hamburgers. I know what you’re thinking why would I eat if I ate a deer not long ago. Well I have a big appetite. My friends call me Miss Eats a lot and I’m fine with that.  
    “Go sit down and eat.” He said.  
    “Okay.” I said leaving to sit across the table from Jason.  
    “What was that about?” Asked Jason.  
    “Nothing.” I said as my sister came over.”What do you want Taylor?” I said not looking at her.  
    “We need to talk. Alone.” She said giving Jason a dirty look.  
    “I’ll be right back.” I said to Jason. Walking to an empty corner I stopped.”What?” I said whipping around to look Taylor straight in the eye.  
    “You. I saw you earlier flying around. You broke mom’s one rule.” Taylor said. She’s always been a goody goody since we were little.  
    “You did? Or are you lying?”  
    “I did! You had something in your talons and flew deep into the forest!”  
    “I flew low over the tree tops so could only see my spikes! And I didn’t have anything in my talons except clothes!” Okay so I fibbed on the last part but I couldn’t tell her I had Jason or else she would tell mom.  
    “Then what were you doing?”  
    “Chasing some deer. What else would I do? Commit suicide?” Feeling smoke smoldering in my lungs I ran down the hall. Nothing in the world feels worse than getting into a fight with your sister. Trust me. Once safely outside in the forest I let my dragon side out. In dragon form when I’m running I’m pretty clumsy. So when I tripped on a fallen tree it didn’t surprise me but it hurt a lot. I heard a sickening snap and felt my left foreleg bend unnaturally. Roaring in pain I fell down. What I tripped on wasn’t a tree it was my safe house. After five months trying to make the house better it was under me. I ran fifty miles as a dragon. I probably should’ve flown. I could probably fly to the mountains and find a cave then stay there for awhile. But then again if flew I couldn’t land. I decided to just stay here and search for some clothes I could use. Calming down I unhulked and searched using my good arm only. I not only found clothes but I also found some materiel to put my arm in a sling. Looking at my arm I saw it was oddly misshaped. My elbow had a bone sticking out. I didn’t have my wand because it was destroyed when I hulked out earlier. I couldn’t hulk out because my bones would get messed up. So I was stuck walking back. That also meant I couldn’t hunt.  It was late so I had to climb a tree and stay there for the night. It sucked. I had to find a branch that was big enough for me to sit on and I had to use one arm the whole time. I couldn’t risk hulking out in my sleep so I had to stay awake all night. It’s a good thing to have your own heating system inside of your body so you don’t freeze over night.


	3. Chapter 3

Nearby I heard wings flapping. I thought it was a bat so I ignored it. But then I saw a stream of fire and something large by the tree I was in.   
    “Angel! I smell you so don’t hide! Come down here! Angel!” yelled a deep voice.  
    “What do you want from me?” I yelled.  
    “To help you!”  
    “Why should I trust you?”  
    “Because I’m your father!” He yelled. He couldn’t be! My father left me when I was a baby, unless. No he would never do that. Wait, isn’t that the line Darth Vader said to Luke Skywalker?  
    “How do I know you’re not lying?” I yelled.  
    ‘Come down here and I’ll show you!” He demanded  
    “I can’t! My arm is broken!” I yelled.  
    “Fine I’ll come up and get you.” He said as the shape came up to my branch.  
    “Oh my god.” I said slowly. It was a dragon that looked exactly like me hulked out. He was huge. I know that dragons grow throughout their whole life, but I didn’t know any dragon that big! He was at least 16 feet long and 14 feet tall! I hoped that I could grow that big. I’m only 12 feet long and 10 feet tall. Anyway he opened his talons and grabbed me. He flew down and released me. He opened his jaws and put the remains of my safe house on fire.”Hey! I had some stuff in there!”  
“It was destroyed anyway. Are you hungry?” He asked.  
    “Yeah!”  I said.  
    “I’ll be back soon.” He said flying off.    
Getting cold I made the fire blaze brighter. “He can’t be my father.” I thought aloud staring into the flames. “I don’t care what he says I won’t believe him. He could never be my father.”  I know what dads are like from being at my friends’ house. A father loves and cares about you. This dragon who claims to be my father left me alone for thirteen years! He never sent me a postcard or talked to me once! He never told me how to handle my dragon side! I was an outcast everywhere I went and mom never praised me because of what I am! Doesn’t he know what I’ve been through! I’ve kept my feelings inside for years! After all I’ve been through he never even said Hi! When Jason finally asked me out I knew it was because he pitied me! And after what I showed him earlier I know he’s going to break up with me! My visions do not lie! My father cursed me by having me! Sometimes I threaten to kill myself because of my visions are so terrible! My father is the reason I’m like this! No matter what that dragon says I will not call him dad!   
I was smoking by the time the dragon came back. Literally. Smoke was coming out of my ears and nose. I was also starting to get bigger and scales were popping all over me.  
“Calm down. If not you’ll mess up your bones. Then you won’t heal properly.” He said as he landed. “Here try taking deep breaths.” I didn’t want to listen to him but I couldn’t have my clothes rip and not have any clothes on in front of a guy. That would be embarrassing. So I just took deep breaths like he said and what do you know it actually worked!   
“Thanks.” I mumbled.  
“You’re welcome.” He snorted. He put a deer on the ground next to me.”Eat.” He demanded. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I was so hungry! Forgetting my table manners I dove right in. It was a buck. I couldn’t rip open its skin so I broke off one of his horns and ripped him open with it. I took out all of his intestines and tossed them into the trees. Then I roasted his fat and fur a little so I wouldn’t get parasites. In the end it tasted pretty good. I ate about half of him because he was kind of small. I took one of its bones and started sucking on it to get all the marrow out of it. I heard a strange rumbling sound and realized the dragon was laughing.  
“Don’t laugh!” I yelled “If you were hungry you would have done the same thing!” Then I realized that I still had one of the bucks’ horns so I chucked it at him. He blocked it with his tail and snapped it in half.”Hey!”  
“You shouldn’t throw things at your father.” He snapped.  
“For the last time you are not my dad!” I yelled “You may look a lot like me but trust me you are not my dad.”  
“Fine believe what you want but know this. Without me you can’t control yourself.” He said thrusting his snout into my face. With those final words he flew away.   
“Whatever.” I puffed.”I never want to see him again.”  
  



	4. Chapter 4

I was tired of waiting till morning so I lit up a branch and put the fire made by the dragon out. Then I started walking south to school. There are many monsters in the forest along with wolves so I had to be extra careful with my broken arm. If any bloodsucking vampires smelt it I was in serious trouble. There are occasions where you find piles of ashes in the morning or a newborn who doesn’t know any better. The only time you find kids in the forest from school is because someone dared that person to do it. Idiots.  Sometimes they don’t even come back until I find them passed out a few days later. Finally the sun came out after several hours wandering south. This is the best part of the night, dawn. I put my little torch out and kept walking with a little more spring in my step.  
 I was nearing the spot where I showed Jason what I am. Finally. About a five minute walk till the edge of the forest. I ran the rest way into the school football field.   
Oh yeah did I tell you that the school game is football? Yeah I would have been a cheerleader but I got stuck being Dragon Halls mascot instead. I was the perfect person for the job. Instead of being in a costume like the other mascots I just hulked out in the forest, hid in a cloud, and when the games started I dove down with flames coming out of my mouth. It was fun. But now I can’t do it because of my arm.  
 I flopped down onto my back and passed out cold. For once in my whole life I did not have any visions at all. At about two I heard voices. Probably gym class coming out to play ultimate football or something. I felt hands touch me and thought they were trying to see if I was still alive. Then I heard someone gasp and thought someone saw my arm and the bone sticking out.   
“Oh no. This can’t happen.” It was Jason “Angel wake up! Come on wake up!” He took my head and put it in his lap then started crying. So he didn’t pity me. I felt tears drop onto my face. Aw. I tried to open my eyes but I was still tired from wandering through the forest all night. “Wake up please! Don’t die on me. Please don’t. Please.” He was crying really hard now. Then hid did something we’ve never done. He kissed me. After that I couldn’t hear anything else. I was too happy. The next thing I knew I was in the schools’ hospital.  
When I woke up Jason was there holding my hand in a kneeling position with his head down. My arm was in a cast and covered with a white blanket. “Where am I?” I croaked. The instant I spoke Jason’s head popped up.  
“Oh thank God!” He said. His eyes were puffy from crying. He threw his arms around me and started crying from joy. “I thought I lost you.”  
“Take it easy. I’m okay. I just passed out after trekking through the forest all night.” I said patting his back with my good arm. “Could you get off my broken arm?”    
“Oh sorry. How’d you break it though?” He said getting off.  
“I tripped.” I replied. “It’s going to be hard to write though.” I’m left handed so I can’t write or play my violin for a long time. The school doesn’t how I’ll react to magic meant for humans so they won’t risk using magic on my arm I bet.  
“Sorry they couldn’t fix your arm. The bone has to heal by its self. They said it was too damaged to heal. Good thing you didn’t get attacked by some monster.” He shuddered “If you never came out I wouldn’t know what to do.”  
“How long have I been out?”   
“About a day since we found you. You know you talk in your sleep?”  
“Wow. And yes I am aware I talk in my sleep. If you can call it that. I have visions in these trances. Dragons don’t sleep.” I explained. I started coughing. Flames came out. I couldn’t stop for about a minute. That’s new. Usually I cough up smoke instead. “Hm. I might have a cold or something.” Then I coughed up another stream of flames and sneezed at the end. My stomach growled. I giggled. “Guess I’m hungry.”  
“When did you last eat?”  
“Thursday.” I didn’t tell him that a dragon fed me that night but when I caught a deer before I got back to school after showing him my dragon form.   
“Well its Saturday now so let’s go get something to eat.” He said getting up and giving me a pull up. My stomach growled louder again. We both started bursting into laughter. “You’re definitely hungry Ms Big Appetite.” He teased calling me the nickname my friends use. I punched him playfully in the stomach. It was a very weak punch though. “Ouch she punched me so hard. I’m going to die.” He teased.  
“Shut up!” I said “If you hadn’t eaten for two days straight you would be hungry too!” I tried to punch his stomach with my left hand but forgot about my cast. “Ouch.” Then I started coughing again. “I think after sleeping so long I built up a lot of smoke.” I gasped fighting for air between coughs. Either that or I swallowed a small piece of bone Thursday night. Stupid dragon.  But I had a solution. I would go into the forest and find some fireweed. Fireweed is something dragons eat if they don’t feel well. We walked into the cafeteria and my roommate Lucy tackled me into a bear hug. “Watch my arm!” I gasped still breathless from the cough attack.  
“Sorry! I missed you.” She said leading me to a table full of people. “Look guys! She’s alive!” Silence. “Say something!” Lucy hissed into my ear.  
“Um. Hi!” I said nervously waving looking over everyone. They were all from Dragon Hall. Thank God Taylor wasn’t there. I couldn’t stand her anymore! If I ever saw her coming towards me I would just turn around and say “Go away.”  
“Hi.” Everyone said cheerfully. Then Jason came up and put his arm around my waist.   
“Who’s hungry? ‘Cause I know she is.” As if on cue my stomach growled loudly. Everyone started laughing. I burst out coughing though.  
“Are you okay?” asked Lucy. I just nodded thankful smoke didn’t come out.  
“Cold I guess.”  
 I excused myself from the table and as soon as I was out of sight I started running. I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was following me and crashed into a teacher. “Ouch!” I yelped as my broken arm got crushed from the impact. “I’m so sorry Mr. Garcia! Here let me help you pick up your books.”   
“No. It’s okay as long as this egg didn’t get hurt.” Mr. Garcia said holding up an emerald green dragon egg.  
“Wow! Can I hold it?” I said as he held it out for me to hold it. “Where did you get it?”  
“Friday night when I was looking for you I tripped over it. It’s beautiful right?”  
“It is!” I said watching the light reflect off of it.  
“Good, because it’s for you.”  
“Really!?” He nodded “Thank you so much!” Getting to raise a dragon is a once in a lifetime chance. (My mother didn’t realize this when I lived with her.) I tried to hug Mr. Garcia the best I could with my broken arm and the egg in my good arm. I would have so much fun teaching him/her how to fly, hunt, and so many other things. “Why me though?”  
“I couldn’t think of anyone better to raise a baby dragon. And as a get well gift too.” He explained.  
“I’ll hide it right away and tell you when it hatches.” I said over my shoulder running straight to the forest. I started looking for some fireweed as soon as I ran into a meadow. I found some and ate it quickly.  I picked the egg up and made a B-line for my room as soon as I got inside. When inside my room I wrapped the egg up in two blankets to keep it warm and carefully put it under my bed. The good thing about fireweed other than it making you stop coughing is that it fills your stomach. You can’t have too much or you either get addicted or you get sick. So when I went to the cafeteria I only had one cheeseburger. Sure it was a double cheeseburger but I usually have more than two. When Jason asked what was wrong I just said that I had a stomachache. The truth was I had too much to think about. That and the fireweed kicked in. When everyone started leaving I got up and walked to my room. Jason walked with me of course.   
“Okay what’s really wrong? I bought what you said earlier for a while, but you didn’t talk at all!” He said.  
“Fine you caught me. I was thinking about something important.” I said throwing my hands up in the air.  
“What happened earlier when you left the table? I saw you running off.”   
“You really want to know?”  
“Yes!”  
“Fine! Follow me.” I said walking into my room. I went over to my bed and crouched down. “You have to promise not to tell anyone.”  
“Again?” I gave him a dirty look.”Fine! I promise.”  
“Okay. Here I go.” I took the egg out from under my bed and unwrapped it. “I ran into Mr. Garcia earlier and he gave me this.”  
“That’s a cool looking stone.” He said. I would’ve smacked him in the head if I hadn’t been holding the egg.  
“It’s an egg stupid!”  
“Oops.” He said looking down at it. “Why’d he give it to you?”  
“He couldn’t have thought of a better mother, that and as a get well gift.” I explained. I heard Lucy unlock the door. “Shh.” I wrapped the egg back up in the blankets and slid it under my bed. It was one of the school rules to have your door locked.   
“Hey Angel! Hey Jason!” She said cheerfully.  
“Hi Lucy.” Jason and I said in unison.  
“Jinx! You owe me a soda.” Jason said.  
“I do have soda. My secret stash. Close your eyes.” I said walking towards the invisible fridge Lucy and I had.”Good.” I turned around and opened up the fridge. I took out a can of coke and silently shook it as I closed the door. “Here you go.” I said giving him the can.  
“Thanks!” He said opening the can only to get splashed in the face with a stream of soda. “Hey!” He yelled as Lucy and I burst out laughing. When we were done I felt a little dizzy and off balance. I grabbed the head of my bed and started shaking. “Are you okay!?” Jason asked worriedly.  I nodded. The shaking passed and I stood up straight.  
“I’m fine, just tired.” This was true though I had no idea why; it was dark outside anyway. Jason and Lucy exchanged a look I could not read. “So, if you could leave now Jason I’d appreciate it.”      
“Okay, bye.” He said slightly worried. I waved as he closed the door behind him.  
    “Okay, what’s wrong?” Lucy accused.  
    “This.” I said taking out my green dragon egg.  
    “It’s a dragon egg!” she gasped.  
    “At least you didn’t say it was a stone like Jason.” I said relived, cradling the precious egg. “And yes you’re right. Mr. Garcia gave it to me.”  
    “Why?”   
    “He thought I was the perfect person to raise it. You know, show it how to fly and all that. It’s a chance of a lifetime.”  
    “If you want to take care of a dragon hatching then why don’t you go to one of the dragon tribes you’re always talking about?”  
    “Because the mothers never take care of their children; it’s a general rule. I think it’s stupid though.”  
    “You’re right, it is very stupid.”  
    “Only the ones who aren’t accepted into the tribe take care of the child. The mother won’t be so happy to find her baby taken away. I hope she won’t look for it. Death and destruction will happen, the school burnt down to absolutely nothing. The forest in ruins so it’s a wasteland.” I said remember the awful vision I had. Maybe it won’t happen for a long time. It’s very hard to tell time. “Sorry about that.” I said snapping out of the memory.  
  



	5. Chapter 5

It was a week after the fight Taylor and I had when my arm had finally healed. Till then people kept asking what happened and why they didn’t heal my arm right away. So I just told them to leave me alone and left.   
“Okay, seems like you are completely healed.”  
“Does that mean I can, you know?” I asked avoiding saying the word in case anyone was eavesdropping. The nurse gave me a weird look.  
“Fine, if you’re so desperate.” She said.  
“Thank you!” I said jumping up and running out.  
“Take it easy!” she yelled after me.  
“I will!” I ran to my dorm as fast as possible without having people become suspicious. I dove under my bed and fetched the dragon egg from the blankets I had wrapped around it. I ran to the woods egg in hand. Based on my senses, I could tell the egg was close to hatching, I just didn’t want it to hatch in the dorm room in case someone heard it. Besides, I want to be in dragon form when it hatches. I went deep into the forbidden forest. I felt the egg shake in my arms. I looked down at it and saw a crack. I set it down on a pile of leaves. I strip as fast as I could and shifted. Then I thought better of it and changed back into a human. How would I carry it so I could hide it somewhere safe? I put my clothes back on; the egg was covered in tiny cracks.   
The top of the egg was starting to rise up as it pushed its little green head up. The rest of the egg fell apart and its strangely angled body was revealed. It licked the liquid left on its body off. The dragon was the same color of the egg. I stared in amazement at the baby dragon. It locked its large green eyes with my reddish-brown eyes. It stumbled closer to me and sniffed my hand. I held it out to pet it and it rubbed its head against my hand, like a cat would. I heard a rustling behind us and scooped the dragon in my arms. I turned towards the sound, the baby protesting in my arms.   
“Shh, it’s okay boy. Calm down, I’ll protect you.” I said trying to comfort it, I wasn’t sure it was a boy but I just decided it was for the time being. I kept looking for what caused the rustling. I backed away from the sound cautiously. I kept looking and found a pair of red eyes staring at me, like I was its next meal. I let a deep growl and it growled back. The mysterious thing came out. It was a flipping vampire. It bared its sharp teeth in a blood thirsty smile.  
“My, my, looks like someone found a dragon egg. Too bad he won’t have anything to protect him.” Said the vampire coming closer.  
“Don’t you dare.” I growled, smoke smoldering in my lungs, eyes red.  
“Oh, I haven’t had anything fight back before. This should be fun.” He said with a menacing grin.  
“Touch him and you’re dead.” I threatened. I felt myself start to shift. I stopped myself instantly. The vampire snatched the dragon from my arms in a heartbeat. I let out a roar and launched myself at him. I pinned him to the ground and grew talons, sinking them into his shoulders. He let out a hiss and tried to escape. The dragon got away safely before I knocked them to the ground. For once I had an opponent that matched me in strength and speed. Size would be another matter once I was in full dragon form. “I said not to touch him.” I growled.  
“Someone’s feisty.” The vampire said. “I like that.” He said flipping us over so he was pinning me to the ground. He made a dive for my jugular vein but I held him back.  
“Bite me and you’re dead.”  
“Oh honey, that’s nearly impossible for a little girl like you. I’m undead. That and I’m one of the strongest of my kind.”  
“What did you call me?” I growled. “I am not a little girl. I have more power than you think.” He had the body of a sexy fourteen year old, but the strength of a really old vampire. Then again, I am a thirteen year old dragon who is on her freaking period. You don’t want to meet one of those.  
“Then you’ll have even more power once you turn. You want to live forever with immense power? Cause, that can happen.” Is he flirting with me? I dug one of my talons out of his shoulder and slapped him across the face. He took the chance and reached my neck, digging his canines into my jugular. I gasped as a wave of pain flashed through my body. He drank my blood and I instantly felt weak. I couldn’t do anything to stop him. If he doesn’t kill me then I won’t be a vampire instantly. It’s the curse of the undead. If you’re bitten by a vampire, you can’t become one until you die. Something attacked the vampire and he stopped, being ripped away from me. Somehow I gained the strength to turn my head. It was one of the protectors of the forest; in other words, the werewolves. They track the vampires and if they bite someone, they attack. I sent a small prayer to the gods known and unknown. I felt something small crawl onto my chest and lick me with a sandpapery tongue. I looked and saw the baby dragon. I pet him slowly, the vampire said it was a boy so I named him Draco there and then.  
“It’s okay Draco, I won’t die just yet.” I murmured. Draco had a sad look in his eyes and he snuggled under my chin. I lay my head back. I felt myself slipping away from life. I closed my eyes. “I’m so sorry Draco, this is how it’s going to be. I’ll be undead, and you will have to live out in the wild alone, unable to defend yourself. I wish it could be better than this.” I said feeling tears escape. “Why couldn’t I have shifted as soon as that stupid vampire came out?” At last, the battle between the vampire and werewolves was at an end. There was no way for me to tell. I felt something, I think a head, lay on my heart.  
“She’s alive.” Said a husky voice. “Her heartbeat’s faint, but it’s there.”  
“let’s take her to the cabin.” Said another voice as someone scooped me in their arms. Draco was uneasy so I lay a hand on his head and pet him slowly. He calmed down and lay back down. My scaly fingers surprised the werewolves. They must have thought I was a regular girl who found a dragon egg and watched it hatch. The scales went away a few minutes later when they lay me against something soft. I hadn’t died yet so I might have a chance of living longer. I opened my eyes a little bit and saw a bunch of men surrounding me. I sat up quickly causing Draco to fall off my chest. I got a head rush from the loss of blood. I brought my hands up to my temples and got into fetal position. A hand laid against my back and soothed me. it went in between my shoulder blades and hit something. I sat up straight and looked at my back. Sure enough, there were two large bumps. Apparently some of me didn’t reside when I halfway shifted. Stupid wings, I sucked them in an instant. I examined my surroundings and saw I was in a small log cabin. There were two men or teenagers, I don’t really know, near a fire place trying to light it. Three people were around the couch I was sitting on. All three were girls. I snatched Draco off the floor and held him close.  
“Where am I?” I asked slightly panicked. My hand shot up to my neck as I checked to see if getting bitten really happened. There were two little puncture wounds oozing blood. At least he didn’t suck all of my blood out.  
“It’s okay, you’re safe now.” Said the girl closest to me “We stopped him from killing you just in time.”  
“Thank you.” I said, as Draco played with my hair.  
“Your very welcome.” Said the girl next to the first one. “Quick question though. Why do you have a dragon hatchling?”  
“I found his egg sometime last week. He hatched right before that stupid vampire showed up.”  
“How? No one enters this forest unless they’re dared to.”  
“I come willingly.” They all had a questioning look on their faces, even the guys at the fire place. “I’m kind of half dragon.” I admitted. They all looked shocked.  
“If you’re half dragon, can you light this damn thing?” said the blond one at the fire place. I shrugged my shoulders. I picked Draco up in my arms and stumbled to the fire place.  
“Move please. Thank you.” I crouched down to the logs. I opened my mouth and lit the fire. I grew a little curious about something and stuck my hand in the fire. Everyone shouted out for me to get my hand out of it. I pulled it out and it didn’t come out burned. It came out the same way it was when it went in. cool. “Look, I’m sorry but I have to get back to the school.” I said as I looked out a window and saw it was dark.  
“You can’t!” said the tall dark boy.  
“Yeah, it’s dark outside!” the one girl who didn’t talk earlier said.  
“You’ll get bitten again!” the blond boy.  
“You could die this time!” the first girl.  
“And then become one of them!” the second girl.  
“But won’t people wonder where I am?” I asked.  
“You can stay the night and leave in the morning.” Offered the blond boy. It would be Saturday tomorrow, so I wouldn’t gave to go to class. The werewolves probably wanted me to stay to see if I would die then come back. I shook my head.  
“I’m not gonna spend the night with a bunch of strangers. I’d rather take the risk of being killed.” I said picking up Draco. I darted out of the cabin before they could protest.


	6. Chapter 6

I covered up my bloody vampire bite with my index and middle fingers. “Why does bad stuff always happen to me?” I asked Draco, he didn’t answer, of course, cause he’s too young to start talking. That should be happening soon though. About a month. I pulled a vine off a nearby tree. I fit it onto Draco’s little neck and tied him to a tree, not that far from where I enter from the school. “sorry boy, you have to stay here for a little bit.” I said walking away hearing him whine. I caught a squirrel and fed it to him. He licked it out from my fingers and gnawed on the bones to get the marrow. I waved goodbye and returned to the school. I walked into my room, careful not to wake Lucy. I snuck into our bathroom and pulled out the bandages. I lay one large bandage on the bite to cover it up. Now to hide it.  
I decided to do something I have never done before. I straightened my hair. It was long enough to cover the bandage. I wasn’t the kind of person who cared about hair or how I look, but when I looked in the mirror, I seemed different. Prettier. I shook my head, turned the light off and went to bed. I didn’t fall asleep till almost dawn. I woke up from my visionless sleep when Lucy pushed me off the bed. It was bright in the room so I hid under my blanket.  
    “What?” I groaned from under the blanket as Lucy slammed a pillow against my body.  
    “Dude, it’s nearly three in the afternoon! What were you doing last night?” she said giving up on making me get up.  
    “Stuff.” I grunted.   
    “Does it have to do with that band aid on your neck?”  
    “Maybe.”  
    “Well get up!” she yelled as I felt a thump in my side and heard something crack. I didn’t feel any pain though. Lucy obviously did. She let out a stream of curses as I heard her hopping up and down. I took the blanket off my eyes, getting accustomed to the bright sunlight. I saw Lucy holding her left foot and hopping around. I jumped up flinching at the sight of her foot swelling.   
    “Are you okay?” I asked as I went to her side. She shook her head. “Let’s get you to the nurse.” I said supporting Lucy’s weight as we shuffled slowly to the clinic. Turns out she broke three toes just by kicking me. I let the nurse mend Lucy’s toes and went back to our dorm to fall back asleep. That’s when I remembered about Draco. I got dressed in record time and jumped out our window, landing on my feet. I ran to where I left Draco tied up. He was still there waiting for me like a puppy would its master. I untied Draco and he jumped up on my leg. “I missed you too boy.” I giggled. I sat against the shady side of the tree and played with Draco. His small talons accidently pierced my skin on several occasions. Let’s just say I went through a lot of band aids for the next few weeks.  
  



	7. Chapter 7

It was a month after I had gotten bitten by that dumb vampire and the two puncture wounds never healed. I thought of telling someone but decided against it. Lucy asked on several occasions why I had the bandage on my neck, but I refused to tell. There were many times Lucy or someone else almost saw the holes. Over all, I did a good job covering them up with turtle necks, scarves, and those thick choke necklaces. The second week after Draco hatched I had moved him to a small cave in the nearby cliffs.  He was already up to my waist in height and could talk. It was time for his first flying lesson.  
 “Now Draco, remember what I told you, keep flapping.”  
“Yes mother.” I never gave birth to Draco but since I’m raising him he calls me mother.   
“Ready, set, go!” I pushed him out of the cave on the side of the cliff. “Keep flapping!” I said gliding down to show him. “Up and down, up and down!”  
“I’m doing it! Mother look I’m flying!” He said happily. I was humming with pleasure.   
“Good! Can you land though?”  
“I don’t know how.” He said bashfully.   
“It’s okay. When you get close to the ground slow down and dig your talons into the ground or glide down.” I said demonstrating the glide down. Before I landed I heard the familiar whistling of Jason. “Jason!” I said as I landed and playfully pounced on him. I made sure not to crush him or accidently cut him with my talons.  
“Found you.” He said.   
“Mother who is this?” Draco said landing besides me in a defensive position.   
“It’s okay Draco. This is Jason. He’s a friend.” I said. Then I licked Jason’s cheek.   
“I’ve been wondering where you were raising him.” Jason said “I see he has you skills now.”  
“Well yeah I had to teach myself when I was little.” I said.  
“You didn’t have a mother?” Draco asked.  
“No I have one. She just doesn’t love me.”  
“What about your dad?”  
“Him too.” I snorted nearly burning Jason.  
“Hey watch it!” Jason snapped.  
“Sorry. Let’s go back to the cave.” I said getting off Jason. I crouched down low to let Jason climb onto my back. “Okay Draco, you know what to do?” I quizzed.  
“Jump into the air and flap. Right?” He said.  
“Very good.” I praised. I jumped into the air to demonstrate. “Your turn.” At the first attempt he got it right. I nodded my approval.  
“Wow. You’re a natural.” Jason said.  
“Thank you.” Draco said bashfully “How long did it take before you got it right mother?”   
“Well about five minutes. I just watched the birds fly into the air for hours at a time before I attempted it.” I said watching a hawk dive down into the air.   
Wait a second, that hawk is emerald green. It’s not hawk, it’s a dragon! It looks like a mother searching for her egg. That must be Draco’s real mother! She looked exactly like him! She looks small from the distance but close up she must be huge.   
“Draco, hide under my wings and don’t talk.” He obeyed just as told. We flew straight to the cave without trouble. “Jason did you grab the stuff I told you to get?”  
“Yep.” He said holding up a bag.  
“Draco, it’s time to teach you a very important lesson. Probably more important than flying or hunting. It’s the key to a dragon’s life. Sit down and breathe very slowly. You’ll feel weird but stay calm.” I said quietly. He sat down and breathed very slowly. He started to morph slowly but it’s better to be late than never.  
“What’s going on?” He said as he shrunk to normal human size. He looked like a little scruffy five year old without clothes.  
“It’s okay doesn’t panic. Jason please show him how to put clothes on.” I said turning around. I think seeing naked people is really disturbing. Especially since both of them are guys and I’m a girl. After their little lesson was over I turned around. Jason and Draco were fully dressed. Thank god Jason got some normal clothes instead of the schools uniform. “Let’s go.” I said crouching down to let them climb onto my back.  
“I feel funny mother.” Draco complained as he scrambled onto my back.  
“It’s okay. It’s natural to feel that way.” I said. When Jason was safely on my back gripping one of my spikes and Draco was too I leapt out of the cave and glided slowly near the school. We landed in a clearing about ten minutes away from school. “Stay here.” I said walking away to a clutter of bushes where I keep a change of clothes and unhulked. I got dressed quickly and ran over to Draco and Jason. “Let’s go.”   
“Where are we going?” Draco asked.  
“To a friend’s house.” I replied. Mr. Garcia never really liked to live in a dorm so he built a house right outside the football field. We walked for about ten minutes before Mr. Garcia’s house came in view.  “Draco you’re going to stay here for a while, okay?”  
“Yes ma’am.” He said sweetly.  
“Good.” I said ruffling his dark hair. We walked the rest of the way to Mr. Garcia’s house and knocked on the door.  
“Coming!” Mr. Garcia yelled. “Oh, hi Angel, Jason. Who’s this?”  
“Hi Mr. Garcia! This is Draco.” I said waving. “Don’t be shy Draco, say hi.”  
“Hi Mister.”  
“Oh, this is who you were telling me about. He’s not emerald green though.” He said laughing.  
“How does he know about me mother?” Draco whispered into my ear.  
“He’s the one who gave you to me. Mr. Garcia can you take care of Draco, please? I think I saw his real mother.” I whispered the last part so Draco won’t hear me.  
“Fine. But I charge for babysitting.”  
“You sit on a baby?” Draco said.  
“No Draco, that’s not what it means. How much?”  
“Five dollars per day, no exceptions.”  
“Fine.” I whipped out my wallet that I keep in one of my pockets and pulled out a ten. “This is for the first two days.” I got down on one knee and looked Draco in the eye. “Draco you have to stay here for a while, okay? Promise me you’ll behave? Please.”  
“Yes mother.” I hugged him for a moment and felt my eyes water. I let go before I actually started to cry. I watched quietly as he and Mr. Garcia went inside.  
“You okay?” Jason asked. I nodded. “Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and we walked to school together. About half way I heard the dragon roar.  
“Where’s my son!?” I turned around and saw a gigantic dragon flying close by. It was near the edge of the forest.  
“Oh no! That must be Draco’s birth mother; she caught his scent.” I ripped my hand from Jason’s and ran as fast as I could. I stopped at Mr. Garcia’s house and knocked on the door repeatedly.   
“What’s wrong?” Mr. Garcia said as he opened the door. Breathless I pointed at the dragon.  
“Draco!? Come here. You’re leaving; let’s go.” I picked him up in my arms and ran away from the dragon.  My heart was going a mile a minute. My vision sharpened and my sense of smell did also. My clothes were getting too small and I could feel myself get larger. I looked down and Draco had a scared look on his face. “It’ll be okay baby.” I said soothingly.  I looked over my shoulder and the female dragon was flying towards us. In the distance I heard kids screaming. I found the old twister safe place and placed Draco down. “Stay here and be quiet.” I closed the door and decided it was time to hulk out. I let the dragon take over and flew into the air. The kids screaming screamed even louder now as they saw me.  “What are you doing in my territory?” I roared.  
“You stole my son from me!” yelled the dragon. “Don’t deny it! I can smell him all over you!”  
“I did not steal him! I found him!”  
“You’re lying!” she screeched launching herself at me with her talons extended. I dodged and nearly hit a building. In defense I swiped her across the snout and dark blood dripped out of the wound. She roared in anger and blew a stream of fire at me.  
“Stay away from my daughter!” Yelled a very familiar, angry voice.  
“Oh no, not him again.” I said as I turned my head to see the red dragon, who claimed to be my father, fly towards us.   
He launched himself at the smaller emerald green dragon. Then it was a mass of claws and teeth fighting. Once the she-dragon got loose of his grip she attacked me again and threw me against the building. She pinned me on my stomach and dug her teeth into my back. I howled in pain and felt her pick me up in her jaws and shake me around. She slammed me back down and started to tear my wings. The red dragon attacked the she-dragon again and gave me enough time to crawl away. The two dragons launched into the sky and it rained blood again. I was unable to fly so I hopped from building to building. The air going through my wings was very painful, so I just sucked it up and kept going tucking my wings in. Finally I was low enough to land and run away from the battle field. I had to dodge teachers running toward the battle and kids running away from the battle. I almost stepped on the one I needed most, Jason.   
“Jason! Quick I need you to come with me!” I said as I leapt over him “Bring your wand!” I looked to see if he followed me and started to run into the forest. When we were a few yards in I whipped around and said quickly, “I need you to heal me, now. That other red dragon claims to be my father, and if he is I need answers. I talked to him before but he left before I could get answers.”  
“Calm down, you’re talking to fast. I only got that you needed me to heal you.” He said with his wand in hand. He quickly said the spell and I instantly felt better. I nodded my head in thanks and flew into the air. I realized that if I had someone to fight with me I could win easier. I flew back down and asked if he would fight with me on top of my back. He climbed onto my back before I could finish and held on tight. I jumped into the air and roared a battle cry; Jason followed my lead and yelled. I flew into battle and rammed into the green dragon. Jason shot out spells and I lashed out with my talons. I tried to do a complicated, very powerful, attack that involved going upside down. When I was upside down I felt Jason’s weight lighten. I looked on my back and he was gone!  
“No!” I yelled as I saw him falling about 50 feet in the air.  The green dragon fallowed my gaze and dove after him. She caught him in her talons and started to taunt me.  
“It’s either you give me my son, or I destroy your little human friend.”  
“Don’t do it Angel!” Jason yelled.   
“Shut up!” the female snapped.  
“Okay. I’ll do it but you have to give me Jason and leave my territory. If not you’ll never get Draco.”  
“Fine. Whatever you say. Just give him back.”   
I gave a slight nod and flew to the old tornado safe place. I opened the wooden doors with my talon and lifted up Draco. “It’s okay Draco. It’s just me.” I whispered into his ear when he kicked around. I flew to the dragon with Draco cradled in my talons. “Here you go! Take him and go away!” we traded our people and flew away from each other. I guess she was still mad at me for having Draco, cause she shot a torrent of flames at my talons and it engulfed Jason. “No!” I dove down at lightning speed and put Jason on the ground as gently as I could. He was badly burned and was screaming in pain. I tried the best I could to put out the flames and heal him. “Don’t leave me Jason! Please don’t go!” with all these emotions I started to cry. It was very uncommon for me to cry, especially in dragon form. My tears were a blood red and very big.  
“Angel.” He whispered so quietly I barely heard him.  
“What? What is it?”  
“I love you so much.” He said shakily. He took one shaky breath and was gone.  
“Jason? Come back. Please don’t leave me!” I said. When he didn’t respond I pulled my head back and roared in agony. I almost flew up and killed the dragon. I was so mad I shredded the soft soil. With tears running down my snout I roared so loud the trees shook. The red dragon must have heard me and came flying to my side. “Go away!  I don’t want you here! Just leave this place and don’t come back. Ever!”  
“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”  
“Well I’m not! So go away!” I shouted. When he didn’t I blew a river of flames and nearly shredded him. He must have gotten the message and flew away.  I gently grabbed Jason’s t-shirt between my teeth and walked back to the school. The teachers saw me with Jason’s body and instantly started to shoot spells. I ignored them and plopped down with Jason. I licked his body up and down to help make him look better. I put my head on my paws and wouldn’t let him go with the teachers. I stayed there for a few hours staring at his motionless body before I felt someone touch my back. I twisted my neck back and nearly bit my sister’s head off. She just ducked and stayed there. When I was tired of her being there I blew a puff of smoke and a small sputter of fire. She backed off and let me grieve. Whenever I heard someone approach I growled and they backed away immediately. I almost fell asleep a couple of times but Jason’s body kept me awake just lying there. I sat there even when I had to eat or drink. Taylor brought me food and water late at night, but I didn’t eat it at all. I just lay there. In the morning I had dew dripping from my snout. I sat there for about 3 days and 3 nights. At one point Lucy came and started to talk to me. I growled and she knew to go away. I didn’t let Jason out of my sight. When my stomach growled loudly I walked away for about five minutes to go catch something to eat. When I got back his body was gone. I roared so everyone in the school could here. It was late at night but I didn’t care. So what if everyone woke up. I didn’t care. I flew in the air and went straight to the cave where I took care of Draco. So many painful memories. If only Mr. Garcia hadn’t given me that egg. if only Taylor and I hadn’t fought that day I broke my arm. If only I hadn’t shown Jason that I’m a dragon. If only I had killed myself when I had my first awful vision. All of this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t even been born. I wasn’t meant to live. All of the awful things that happened has been my fault.  
I was going to kill myself. I wasn’t sure how but I was. The more I thought of it I realized what to do. I calmed down and shrunk back down to my normal size and shape. I was naked but I didn’t care. I walked to the edge of the cave and was about to make the 5 story drop before I saw something flying towards me. It was small and green with something else flying with it that was also green but twice its size. When I squinted I saw that it was Draco and his real mother. Draco was yelling something at me but I couldn’t tell what. I didn’t care so I jumped down head first but something caught me before I could make contact with the ground. I looked at what caught me and it was the red dragon.  
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled.  
“I’m tired of living, that’s what! Why don’t you go back to ignoring me like before? You don’t even know about my personal life. You don’t even care!” I snapped feeling my inner dragon come out. “You don’t even know his name! Do you know how much I cared about him?” no reply. “I knew it. You don’t care at all. He was one of my few friends. He was my first boyfriend too.” I started to wriggle out of his grip and felt myself hulking out.   
I freed myself and unfurled my leathery wings. I landed safely and took off running. My wings and face got scratched up a little by all the brambles and branches. I didn’t care at all. When I was far away from the school and caves and other dragons I jumped up and flew away even farther. I passed cities and forests but as long as I was away from that awful place I was okay. I flew all the way to the other side of the country and landed in Florida. I landed in the everglades but not deep in. I calmed down and walked to the edge of the everglades to a weird looking theme park. I read the sign and it said Everglades Holiday Park. The same place I saw on a TV show called the Gator Boys. I took some palm leaves and wrapped them around my body. I was flying for a long time and was starving. I must have lost a lot of weight not eating for a long time because I could count all of my ribs. I rolled in the dirt a bit so it would look like I was lost for a while. When I felt ready, I walked out and started to call for help. Immediately people started to come gasping. I must have looked like crap because someone called an ambulance. I decided it was time to start over a new life. I tried to reassure everyone that I was alright, but no one listened. When the ambulance came they loaded me onto a stretcher and strapped me down, because I was kicking around not wanting to be babied. They asked me what happened to me but I just didn’t say anything, except that I got lost and didn’t have a family. They didn’t believe me at all. There weren’t any missing child reports or anything but they kept looking. At one point they sedated me so I would calm down. It didn’t work, I’m immune to it. One perk of being half dragon. At the hospital they tried everything they could to make me talk to them. I just shut up because I couldn’t take it anymore.  I tried to cover up my ears and the bonds broke. That made them jump back a foot or two. I just lay there with my eyes shut tight and my ears covered severely. They kept talking louder and louder, then I broke and screamed. Loud.  They put me in a room and left me alone. Thank God. They lay a blanket on top of me and I fell asleep.  
  



	8. Chapter 8

I woke up on the hospital bed surrounded by official looking people. I sat up and looked around.  
    “What’s going on?” I croaked. The room suddenly became quiet.   
    A woman in a black uniform came up and pulled out a badge. “I’m CSI agent April Maldonado. I would like to know how you ended up in Everglades Holiday Park yesterday.”  
    “I don’t know. I got lost in the everglades and wandered around till I ended up there.” I said quietly.  
    “The doctors test your DNA to find out who your parents are, and they came up as, believe it or not, reptile. Did you know this?” she pressed. It was time to shut up or be mad. So I said nothing. “Are you some kind of super human mutant, or a new species of animal?”  
    “I am no super human, and I’m not a new species. My ‘species’ has been around far longer than humans have and you found us in history once, but we just hid ourselves much better.” I said calmly. The adults were very surprised.   
    “If you’re not a new species, then what are you?”  
    “Figure it out. Go back to medieval times.” I said mischievously.   
    April thought about it for a moment then a look of disbelief crossed her face. “Dragons.” She whispered. The adults went outside for a minute and came back cautiously. “If you are a fire breathing dragon then prove it.” I thought for a moment about how to prove it then had an awesome idea.  
    “Okay, if you say so.” I let smoke collect in my lungs and then blew out a stream of bluish fire. There was some cussing from the adults and they backed away slowly. I stopped then my eyes turned red. “Tada!” I took a deep breath then broke the bonds holding me down. I got up covered in new clothes that fit and opened the window. I was a few stories up but that didn’t matter. That was enough time to hulk out at least to get my wings out. I jumped down and furled my wings. I hit the bottom gracefully and yelled out “Tada!” again then flew back up to the window. I rolled back inside and spread out my bat like wings to give that angel of death effect. There was more cursing and some ran out of the room. April was the only one staying put. I sucked my wings back into my back and bowed.   
    “You’re going to have to come back to the station with me.” She said frowning.  
    “Whatever. I’m guessing you didn’t like my trick though. I could go full hulk if you want though.” I said sweetly at the end. She brought out a pair of handcuffs and put them on me. They were made of flimsy metal and I could break them easily.  
    “If you break out of these I will take you by force.” She threatened. She escorted me out the door and all the way to a big CSI van. She shoved me in the back and locked me in; she got in the front and started driving. When we stopped I heard lots of voices and the door opened. Outside were at least twenty large men in protective gear and each had a gun in hand. When they all saw me they started laughing at how small and harmless I must be. I shut them up by unfurling my wings as fast as I could and growled menacingly. I snorted a puff of smoke at their silence. I could have made them run away if I hulked out fully but I didn’t feel like getting shot right now. I walked towards the building and they surrounded me to make sure I didn’t run away or anything like that. When inside the building I was locked in a large cell with padding all around the walls and flooring.  
    “You have got to be kidding me.” I said as I walked in. “I’m only thirteen! And besides if I wanted to hulk out I would have done it a long time ago. I ran away to Florida to get rid of my old life, you’re really going to lock me up! Can I at least eat something? I haven’t eaten in forever. Dragons have to eat to!” I kind of exaggerated on not eating in forever, but I was starving!  
    “Shut up!” said a voice coming from outside the cell. “Answer all of our questions first and then you can eat.”  
    “Fine! Torture me all you want, but you can’t destroy me!”  
    “First question: why did you come to Florida?”  
    “I was tired of my old life, so I flew away from home.”  
    “Why?”  
    “You want to live with a witch as a mother who ignores you, a dragon as a dad who left you when you weren’t even a day old, having a big sister who hates your guts, and loosing the only person you cared about and cared about you!?”  
    “Your sister, can she turn into a dragon two?”  
    “We may be sisters, but she doesn’t have any powers like me.”  
    “How did you lose the person who cared about you?” No reply.  
    “I don’t want to talk about it.”  
    “Fine. Tell us about them.”  
    “He was the sweetest guy in the world. Dazzling blue eyes, dirty blond hair, the best smile, and he didn’t care about me being a dragon.” I said close to tears. “I grieved for three days and nights. Just looking at his body.” Tears poured down my cheeks. “I didn’t eat or sleep. Then when I took my eyes off him for one minute he was gone.”  
    “I’m sorry for your loss. How did you end up coming to Florida?”  
    “I went to a cave at the top of a cliff. I jumped down but was caught by a dragon who claimed to be my father. I got real mad hulked out, then flew away.”  
    “Are there other dragons?”  
    “What do you think? Of course there are. They are the reason I lost Jason.” I whispered the last part.   
    It pained me to say his name. I broke down into sobs and retreated into the farthest corner. They didn’t ask any more questions. They brought in food but I had lost my appetite. In the end hunger won over grief. I ate the meal then gulped down the water they brought in. I felt better now that I had eaten. I propped myself against the wall and spread out my wings which I had forgotten to suck back in. I was really bored now so I did some exercises with my wings. The ceiling was high enough so that I could fly a little bit. I did some flips and cartwheels in the air then instantly felt better. I heard someone come in and watch me but I was having fun. No one could spoil it for me right now. I landed gracefully and took a few steps to get my land legs back. I turned to see who walked in and saw April. She was looking at me with admiration.   
    “What?” I said when she wouldn’t stop staring.  
    “Nothing. It’s just looks like fun to fly. And your wings are so pretty.” I had forgotten about my wings and sucked them in quickly feeling a little shy.  
    “So are you going to have to do experiments on me?” I said silently.  
    “I don’t think so. And your story seemed real enough that you won’t have to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. The problem is, who is going to take care of you?” my heart did little cartwheels at the fact of getting out of here. “There are lots of women here who want to have kids, but they don’t want a dragon for a daughter. But I’m okay with it. I have a son already but he’s too old to do fun stuff with any more. So what do you say? Want to come live with me?”  
    I didn’t know what to do. The chance of getting someone to act as a caring mother sounded great! I was so excited my wings came out and I did a flip. I threw my arms around her. “Yes! Thank you so much!” I finally got a mom who would care! April laughed.  
    “Okay, okay! Calm down! Let’s go tell my boss I found someone who can take you home.” If I talked smoke would’ve been the only thing coming out of my mouth. I nodded my head and obediently followed her. Everyone stared as I passed with my wings out. I was just barely able not to take off flying around the place. When we got to her boss’s office she knocked and heard a silent come in.  
    “Yes April?” said a man behind a desk.  
    “Sorry to bother you sir, but I want to adopt the dragon girl.”  
    “What? Really?” He said looking up. “You brought it here! In my office!”  
    “Sir, she shows no sign of violence and her story sounds believable enough. I heard no sign of lying when we asked her why she came here. She even broke down crying when we asked about the person she lost. She is an innocent creature who means no harm to anyone.”  
    “In my defense sir, I never killed anyone. The person I lost was killed by another. The only things I killed are animals when I needed to eat to survive. I was never cared for by my mother or my father. My sister and I only fight, but even when I was super mad I never kill. Please sir, let me go live with April. I’m not a threat to humanity.  I swear on my life that I will never kill anyone.” My eyes were a little teary but that didn’t matter since it helped to convince him.  
    “See sir, she’s not a threat. She is a living breathing creature who swears not to kill anyone. She’s only in need for someone to care for her. She’s an angel.”  
    “That’s my name too.”  
    “See! Her name is even Angel. Let her come live with me. She won’t cause any trouble.”  
    He looked back and forth between me and April. “Fine. Keep her out of trouble and you won’t be fired.” He waved us out and my heart did little flips again. We walked out and closed the door behind us.   
    “Thank you so much.” I said hugging her. She laughed sweetly.  
    “Let’s go home.” I nodded. When we were outside we walked to a black mini-van. She unlocked the car and I got in the front with her. We drove for about twenty minutes until we got to a nice little house in a clean neighborhood. “We’re home!” she yelled as we walked in the door.  
    “Hey mom.” Said a red haired, freckled, teenage boy. “Who’s that?”  
    “This is Angel. I adopted her. Come on, don’t be shy.” She said moving out the way so I could get a better look of the place. When I looked at the boy, he was staring at me.   
    “What?” I said cocking my head. Then I remembered my wings. I looked behind me and they were there alright. I sucked them in quickly. “Sorry. I forgot about that.”  
    “Mom, what is that?”  
    “She is your new sister. And she’s … a dragon.” She whispered that last part.  
    “What? Did you say a dragon?” she nodded “You could have at least asked me before you adopted her! I am not sharing a room with her!”  
    “Austin! Calm down!”  
    “No! She’s a freak and you know that! She’s going to kill us in our sleep and then burn the house down with her fire breath! “  
    “Austin!”  
    “No April. It’s okay I knew I wasn’t wanted here. The thought of having a mother that actually cared about me just excited me so much.” I shook my wings out and went out the door. “I’ll be on the roof if you want me.” And with that said I flew onto the roof. It was bright out and since that one dreadful day, I haven’t like the sunlight a whole lot. I lay on my stomach and spread my wings out so they could soak up the sun. On the street kids were coming home from school. Some were racing along with their friends, and others were playing ball in the street. Only one was alone. She was a small girl about girls who were calling her names. It kind of reminded me of my own life. I glided down into the back yard and sucked my wings in. I walked out onto the street and when she tripped I helped her up.  
    “You okay?” I asked.  
    “Yeah, thanks.”  
    “You’re welcome. My name’s Angel.”  
    “Leah.” She said holding out her hand. “Are you new here?”  
    “Yeah, April adopted me about an hour ago.”  
    “Have you met Austin yet?”  
    “Yeah. He doesn’t like me though.”  
    “Really? He’s usually pretty nice.”  
    “I don’t think he likes the idea of not getting all the attention. Or sharing a room.” I shuddered. “I don’t like having to share a room either. I had a roommate named Lucy, she talks too much. I have to go. April might start to worry about me. Nice to meet you.”  
    “You too. Bye.” I waved.  
    I walked back to the backyard and flew back to the roof. I watched the kids walk back home and grew hungry. I went down and walked inside quietly. I went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for something to eat. It wasn’t until I grabbed some left over steak did I sense someone watching. I looked over my shoulder and Austin was glaring at me.  
    “What are you doing?” he snapped  
    “I got hungry. And I live here so, sorry if you wanted this.” I said backing up to the door. I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. When I was outside he jumped at me and I tried to fly out of his reach. He grabbed my foot and pulled me down. He pinned me down and punched my face. I cried out in pain and felt scales bubble up. He stared at me in awe then grabbed my arm and twisted it up behind my back. he took my right wing and pulled as hard as he could. I screamed in agony and felt myself grow bigger. I will not allow myself to hulk out. I pulled back my head and let out a torrent of fire instead of a cry for help. April heard my earlier scream and came out as fast as she could. She saw Austin trying to rip my wings off and came to my rescue. She pulled him off of me and wrestled him back. I stumbled up and looked her in eye. I put all my pain into my eyes and fell down fighting the dragon in. it looked like I was having a seizure but that’s normal. April came running towards me, but I stopped her by holding my hand up. I looked at my hand and it was covered in scales and my fingers were becoming talons.  
    “Oh no. please no, not now.” I felt bile rise up in my mouth and vomited. I clawed the ground trying to get away from April and Austin so I wouldn’t hurt them. I felt my nose turn into a snout and back to normal. My wings got bigger and started to flap. I dug my talons into the ground to not fly away. I looked over my shoulder to see if April and Austin were still there. They were staring at me looking mortified. My eyes were turning blood red instead of their usual reddish-brown. “No!” I yelled angrily as I took flight taking chunks of the ground with me. I let out all the fire in my lungs and fell to the ground as my wings retreated into my back. My hands went back to normal and my eyes went back to their regular color. I tried to stand up but fell back to my knees. I let out a sigh of relief as I realized I won against the dragon.  
    “Is it okay for me to come over there?” April yelled. I nodded. She ran over and started mothering me. “You landed pretty heavily, are you sure you’re okay?”  
    “I’m fine. Sorry you had to see that. That’s the first time I won.” I tried to stand up and almost fell; I stumbled to the house and collapsed on the couch. I sensed Austin staring at me and looked up. “What do you want?” I snapped.  
    “Look sorry I put you through that. I didn’t know that would happen; did it hurt?”  
    “If you mean trying to rip my wings off, very. Me trying to stay human, not as much.”  
    “Sorry,” He said wincing   
     “Are you done bothering me?”  
    “I just wanted to apologize.”  
    “If you were really sorry, you would leave me alone. I’ll stay out of your way, but you have to try not to kill me. My life was bad before and I don’t want it to be the same this time. I never got to know my father; my mother hated me; my sister and I always fought; and the only person who cared about me is dead. And I watched him die, right in front of me. You know how hard that is? I even tried to kill myself.” No answer.   
    “My mom sent me to a boarding school thinking it would get rid of me. That someone would kill me or something. I almost did. I was the freak among freaks. I would go into the forbidden woods and get out unscathed. Others didn’t, they would come out scared as hell, or didn’t come back till I found them. Only once did I get hurt, and it wasn’t that bad. Even when I was recovering I went into the woods. I got a dragon egg, it hatched and I raised it the best I could. It was the reason that person I told you about is dead. When he died, I grieved for three days and nights. I left for a minute and his body was gone. I flew to the top of a cliff and jumped off. I was caught in midair by a dragon who claimed to be my father. I got away and flew halfway across the country. Now here I am. I just got attacked and almost hulked out. I came to get a new life. So far, it’s awful. If you wanted me gone you could have asked instead of attacking me. I would have left without trouble. I got the message. I hope you’re happy,” I said the last part as I got up. “have a great life, have many children, and get a good job.” I walked outside “goodbye.” I gave them a small smile and bowed my head as I got ready to hulk out. My skin rippled and I practically landed in dragon form. “Thank you April for trying to give me a new family.” I stood on my hind legs and stretched to my full size. I lightly touched Aprils’ forehead with my muzzle and left a small flame shaped mark on her brow. “This is my blessing to you, for giving me new hope when I had none. It will call me when you are in great distress. Share your hope with everyone who has none, like you did with me. Live a wonderful life.”  
    “Do you really have to leave?” April said with watering eyes.  
    “Yes. I’m sorry, but I am not wanted. I wouldn’t want to damage this family. I clearly have by coming here; I’d hate to make it worse.”  
    “Please don’t! We’ll make it work! I heard you talking to Austin and don’t want to destroy your hope! I didn’t know that it was that bad for you!”  
    “It was worse. I even got whipped with a belt a few times.” As soon as the words are out I regret saying them. It’ll only make leaving harder.  
    “Oh!” she said painfully. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I realized she was hugging me instead of trying to choke me (my mom also did that). The heat must’ve been killing her. As soon as her tears touched my scales they evaporated. I nuzzled her neck softly and savored the smell of flowers on her skin. I pulled away from her before I burnt her. “You’re so hot!”  
    “It’s fine. I’m sorry but I really have to go.”  
    “Where are you going?”  
    “I read about dragons living in mountain caves. Hopefully they’ll accept me and I’ll have a new family.” I look at the sky and longed to feel the air gliding underneath my wings.   
    “Please don’t go.” Tears were heavily falling onto her cheeks now. I sighed heavily.  
    “Oh for god sake just stay!” I snapped my head up and saw that it was Austin who yelled. “I can’t stand to see mom cry. If you mean that much to her, then stay.”  
    I looked at April, then Austin, then the sky and back at April. “Fine.” I said “But, can you maybe get a towel and some clothes.” I looked at the shredded pieces of whatever I was wearing. April smelled of joy as she went back inside to get something for me to wear. I lay on the grass and rested my head on my paws. I closed my eyes feeling tired all of a sudden. I felt a hand rub against my side and traced my wings carefully. I lifted my wings slowly and the person looked through the thin membrane. They walked towards my head with their hand running along my side. My ears twitched as they rubbed behind them. I hummed with pleasure. The hand rubbed against my nose and I sneezed. I opened my eyes and saw Austin in front of my face smiling. I sat up surprised. Then I lay back down keeping my eyes on him watching his movements. He walked to my ears and scratched again. I closed my eyes again as I started to hum. He climbed up my back and sat between two spikes on my neck. He was able to reach my ear from there and I kept humming. I could tell he was enjoying it. My tail swished side to side and I spread my wings out a little.   
    I couldn’t take it. I need to fly. I am a creature of the skies; born of fire and air. I should be roaming the skies, looking for a mate, not sitting here like a dog getting rubbed behind my ears. My eyes snapped open and I stood up. I crouched low to the ground and jumped up. I flapped my wings and rocketed into the sky. I flew into the clouds and let the cool air collect under my wings. The moisture felt wonderful against my hot scales. My scales have been hotter than usual and I know I should tell April, but I don’t want her to worry even more. I looked over my shoulder and Austin had a look of surprise on his face.   
    “Hold on tight!” I said. I dived headfirst towards the ground, at the last second I opened my wings and stopped. I followed a flock of birds. I flew silently behind them and snapped at the closest one to me. The sound of my jaw snapping shut sent them scattering. I laughed wickedly and chased them. Once I had them herded together I flew back to the house. April was franticly searching the sky looking for me with a bundle of clothes in hand. I landed on the ground heavily in front of her making her jump. I shook my head sending droplets of water everywhere. “I’m here. Don’t worry, I couldn’t stand lying around doing nothing. I can’t just sit there without stretching my wings.” I looked over at Austin sitting on my neck and he was shivering. Without the cool air my temperature was coming up again. In seconds my temperature was a little over a hundred. He stopped shivering.  
    “You’re burning my butt. Get me down!”  
    “Sorry.” I crouched down and held my leg out so he could climb down it. Every time he laid his hand on my lean muscles he winced. The heat was getting uncomfortable. I lay down panting, not from the flight, but from the heat.   
    “You can go inside now Austin. I think she’s ready to go back to her normal size.”  
    “Okay.” he turned his back and walked back slowly. He looked at me once more and went inside.  
    “You okay?” April said laying a hand on my side. “Ouch!” she pulled her hand away and the smell of burning flesh filled my nose. “Are you always this hot?” I shook my head. “Let’s hurry up and get you inside.” I tried to get back to my smaller form, it was pretty hard. After about ten or fifteen minutes did I finally get to normal. I lay on the lawn in my naked form panting. She laid the towel on me carefully, I was still hot. I wrapped the towel around me and stumbled to the door. April led me to her bathroom and sat me on the rim of the tub. She rummaged in the drawers and took out a thermometer. “Open your mouth.” I did and a small puff of smoke came out. She stuck it in my mouth and waited a bit. When it beeped she took it out. She looked at it in awe, and then put the back of her hand to my forehead. She ripped it away immediately.   
    “What?” she didn’t answer “Come on tell me!”  
    “Put this on.” She said as she shoved the clothes into my arms. She turned around to give me privacy and when I was done she pulled my out of the house and shoved me into the car.  
    “What’s going on? Tell me!” she ran back inside and brought out some ice packs along with Austin.  
    “Hold those to your head and breathe through your mouth.” I did as she said and when I breathed out small puffs of smoke came out. I was stunned. The breathing must have been to regulate cold air and the ice packs to bring down my temperature, so my fever doesn’t fry my brain. When we got to our destination the ice packs were no longer cold. We were at April’s workplace. Great, same awful place twice in one day.  
    “Why are we here? April what’s going on?” I was starting to panic. I had a wild look in my eyes and was already planning how to escape if things got bad.  
    “Don’t worry; we’re going to figure out what’s going on with you.” Austin laid one hand on my back and guided me to a lab room. My breathing quickened and my head was pounding, like a hammer was crushing my skull. I started to back away from him.      
    “You’re going to kill me. You wanted me gone and now you’re going to kill me on this table.”  
    “Angel, calm down. No one is going to kill you.” A hand landed on my shoulder and I whipped around. It was a man in a lab coat.  
    “Don’t touch me.” I backed away from him and Austin into a corner. I saw an opening in between them and made a run for it. I made it out of the room and kept running. The building was a maze of hallways and rooms. I surprised some people as I dashed past them and found a large room. I heard feet running after me and some one call my name. I broke the door down as I crashed into it. I was already starting to hulk out. Scales were popping out of my body and my back was tingling as I realized my wings were about to come. I looked around panicked surveying the room to see if I would fit in my full size. Some one ran into the room as I collapsed onto all fours. I looked over my shoulder to see April staring. I pulled my head back and made a blood curdling roar. My clothes ripped and I was in dragon form. I whipped around and ripped a snarl too the man who just entered as I roared. He looked familiar. I just couldn’t put my claw on it. I racked my memories and finally found what I was looking for. “oh my god.” It was Mr. Garcia. I shook away my surprise and pounced on top of him. “How did you find me?” I snarled.   
    “Angel! Get off him!” April yelled as she tried to run to his rescue. I blocked her away with my tail and growled at her. I looked back at Mr. Garcia and his eyes were turning red. A sign of a dragon.   
    I gasped and backed off of him. “It’s pretty easy to track a teenage dragon. Especially if it’s your daughter.” I staggered back a few steps. My back legs collapsed under me and tried to put as much distance between us.   
    I bit my leg and Mr. Garcia wasn’t there. In his place was a blonde scientist instead of a brown haired wizard with glowing red eyes. It was a hallucination. Oh god. I was going crazy. I started to shrink down and I grabbed my shredded clothes as quickly as possible and tried to fit them back on. April started after me and I backed into a corner so I wouldn’t hurt her. I sat down and rocked back and forth. I started sobbing but no tears came. People were talking to me but I didn’t hear a thing. The past weeks memories came and went in a flash. Everywhere I looked I saw Mr. Garcia with glowing red eyes. I couldn’t stop seeing his face, I screamed loud and clear. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” I slammed my head on the wall multiple times and made a huge dent. Blood streamed into my eyes. People started running in again once more. I was stitched up and someone was always in the room so I couldn’t hurt myself.  I looked at the person who was sitting across from me and she didn’t look like Mr. Garcia. The fact that I was able to tell it was a girl made me feel better. “You don’t have to watch me. I won’t hurt myself anymore.” I pointed to my head. “And I don’t need stitches.”  
    “It’s just a precaution. And you do need them.”  
    “Well that’s dumb, and I broke my arm once then the next week it was fully healed.”  
    “Why did you bang your head against the wall then?”  
    “Everywhere I looked I saw my teacher who claimed to be my dad. He said that in a hallucination. Just between you and me, I think I’m going crazy.”  
    She shook her head. “It was because of your fever. When people have really high fevers sometimes they have hallucinations. I don’t know how but you had a fever of almost two hundred degrees. How did you survive?”  
    “I don’t know! Maybe it’s the dragon in me! I how the hell am I supposed to know?”  
    “Sorry. And you as a dragon, is that real?”  
    “Of course! If you want proof here it is!” I stood up and sprouted wings. I held them out to reach their full length. For more effect I allowed a few scales to pop out of my face, mostly around my eyes.   
    She looked surprised. She reached a hand out as if to touch them but pulled it away at the last second. “May i?” I nodded. I turned around and let her touch them. I let her inspect the way they melted into my skin and the thin semi-transparent membrane. “This shouldn’t even be possible. Dragons are made up. Killers, fire breathing tyrants who take over Camelot.”  
    “Well we’re real. And we don’t take over places. Camelot isn’t even real.” I laughed the last part. “we live in the mountain caves leaving humans alone. We aren’t killers unless put under a difficult situation.”  
    “Why haven’t we found them?”  
    “I’m standing right in front of you, as a human, and you want to know how you haven’t found us. The answer is pretty obvious.” She blushed. “The males fight a lot though. Sometimes they accidently fly out of the cave locked in battle.”  
    “How about you? I heard you were in a battle and someone was killed.” I looked away with tears welling up.  
    “Let’s just say I was in the way of a mother and her hatchling. My friend helped me fight but she killed him.”  
    “I’m sorry for your loss.”   
    “It’s okay.” I sniffed. I gave her a small smile. I looked around and saw a tray of food. I walked over to it and examined it. It had a raw piece of steak and some water. I lifted the steak up to eye level with disgust. I opened my mouth and cooked it. I ripped open the middle to see if it was cooked well enough. It was a nice brown with some juice dripping. I ate it quickly and drank the water in two large gulps.“I’m ready to see if you can help me.” I said still crouched down. She reeked of happiness. “Only if you don’t hurt me.”  
    “Deal!” I could tell she was a mother. I looked into her eyes and pictures drifted into me, her memories. I saw her as a small babe to a grown woman. How many children she had, her name, address and some very embarrassing moments of her life. I blinked startled.  She hadn’t seen anything unusual. I stood up abruptly and headed out the door. Zoey, for that was her name, followed me as I memorized the path to the room with the silver table. I wrapped my wings around my body as I shivered. The air around me felt incredibly cold. I blew my hot breathe into my hands and rubbed to make them warm. Looking around I got weird looks from people and was careful to not look them in the eye.   
    “What day is it?”  
    “March first.” My birthday. I made a mental cake and blew out the candles. I made the wish I always do if I had a real cake. I wondered if maybe being fourteen was important for dragons. Like their powers intensify then. Being able to see a person’s memory was new for me and the incredible fever to make our fire powers more powerful could be what the fever means. Either that or I was close to becoming a vampire.  
    “I think I know what’s going on.” I mumbled. Zoey looked at me with a weird expression, as if saying ‘what’. I kept walking until I found Austin. I nearly crashed into him ‘cause I was thinking really hard. He had a book in hand, he caught me before I could fall down and I made the mistake of looking into his intense blue eyes. I saw him falling off a bike crying, getting pushed down the stairs at school, and many days of him surrounded by books. I blinked breaking the connection and pulled out of the tight grip he had on my arm. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”  
    “I’m okay.” I rubbed my arms up and down ridding myself of the coldness in the room. It was pretty obvious I was cold so he gave me his jacket.”Here I don’t need it.”  
    “No, you keep it. I’ll figure out something.” I looked at my leathery wings, which could withstand heat, and blew on them. I turned them a cherry red and hugged them tightly to my body. The heat was comforting against the cold air of the room. Everyone in the room was staring at me. I blushed an incredible red and pulled in my wings. Better to be cold than embarrassed. Austin held his jacket out again. When I didn’t take it he threw it over my shoulders. This time I didn’t object. I blushed even deeper.   
    “What are you doing?”   
    “Going to find out what is going on with me. I think I know already though.” He waited for an explanation. I sighed. “I think it has to do with age. It didn’t start till this morning because I finally turned fourteen at like seven in the morning. With some creatures, like werewolves, they don’t get their full powers till age fourteen. I think the incredibly high fever was to increase fire power. And, earlier I looked into your eyes and saw your memories. I have visions in my sleep that tell the future, never have I seen the past. The visions I’ve had forever.   
    “The future is terrible and great Austin. You have no idea what I’ve seen, some things are worth living for, others are so bad you don’t know idea how many times I’ve tried to change it or kill myself. I’ve seen this in a vision. I gave up on trying to change the future. Paradox space or whatever you want to call it won’t let me. Life is a gift. Live it to the fullest. You can’t change the past, make the right chose, one thing can be the difference between life and death.” With that said I turned on my heel and walked away. I looked out a window and saw it was nighttime. With no one around I could easily go through. I climbed up and stared out into the night. I stayed there not moving. I looked at the moon and a dark shadow was passing above. I tried to get a better look and saw nothing. I heard my name shouted through the halls. I leaned into the window and they passed right by me. Austin looked out the window I was leaning into and didn’t see me. I wondered if I could blend into any background I wanted to.   
    “Did you fly away?” he said quietly.   
    “Can you really not see me?” I said waving my hand in front of his face. He jumped back at the sound of my voice and looked around. I got off the sill reveling myself. “That’s new. I could play a mean game of hide and seek.” I said grinning like an idiot.   
    “How… what-“  
    “Don’t ask. Stupid dragon thing. That must be how we stayed hidden for so long. Maybe I could shift and my clothes come with me.” I grinned again. “Let’s go tell the others you found me. Or rather I found you.” He rolled his eyes. I followed him drifting between camouflage and being able to see me. We finally got to the main room.  
    “I got her!” he yelled holding my wrist so he won’t lose me. I was camouflaged then. I slipped my wrists out of his grip and was able to be seen. April came running up to me. I moved out of her way and slipped into cameo mode. She looked around and I was at the other side of the room. Someone had a cup of coffee from Duncan donuts and I took it out of their hands when they weren’t paying attention. I was wrong. It was hot chocolate, extra hot.  
    I placed the drink on a table and was back to normal colors. “over here!” I waved. Everyone in the room gaped, except Austin who glared. I took a sip of hot chocolate casually looking Austin in the eyes again. I saw more memories than before.  I held his gaze a little longer before something caught my attention. Scales were popping out of my body. Smells became more prominent and my eyesight was sharper also. Reds and orange colors became vivid while blues and greens became duller. I heard footsteps in the hallway behind me and swerved my head towards the sound. My nose crinkled at the scent of someone wearing too much perfume. I felt my ears sharpen to points and could pick out different people by their scents. I reached up to my ears and felt them. They were scaly and not like a humans anymore. I looked at my hand and my fingers were hardening and blackening into talons. My back was tingling, like my wings were trying to get out. I stood up abruptly and dashed out of the room. I wandered around for five minutes before I found an exit. April chased after me.   
    “Stop! Angel! Tell me what’s going on! Stop!”  I whirled around to meet her face and stared into her eyes. The pressure of her memories knocked me down. I looked around franticly, like something was going to jump out at me. The awful smell of gasoline told me we were out on a road.  Northwest 46th street.   
    “Look, I’ll meet you here in the morning. I have no idea why this is happening, but trust me. I’ll be here in the morning. About dawn. Okay? You have to trust me. I’ll get here as soon as I’m human again but don’t worry about me. I’ll stay hidden in the everglades.” I twitched as I felt my muzzle start to form. She nodded. “Thank you.” I ran into the trees and took flight into the night sky.  
     It felt wonderful to stretch my majestic wings. I looked up and saw that it was a new moon. With no moon light at all it was perfect for hunting and if there were no humans around males would probably take out their competitors as they fought for a mate. In the dragon world I could be mating and have a few hatchlings. The young females don’t take care of the hatchlings. I don’t know why but the elders usually watch over the eggs and the younger dragons help teach them common skills for later in life. Until they’re at least fourteen years old they get treated like servants. They take care of the older dragons wounds, clean up the caves, and cook food.    
    As I promised I flew to the everglades and hunted small animals. While diving down into the water I came face to face with an alligator. It was about twelve feet long with massive jaws. It opened its mouth exposing eighty fangs and bared its back.  I snarled and bared my fangs also. And so we fought. It was tooth against tooth. I had an advantage though, my talons. I grabbed her jaws in my claws and took to the air. She put up a hard fight but I was too much for her to take down. I flew to drier land. Nearby was a camp. I dropped her with a thud and she whipped around to face me. We circled around each other waiting for someone to make a move. Finally the gator let out a hiss and went for my front left leg. I lifted my leg and trapped her under my paw. My talons went into her bony head cutting into her skull. I crouched down to eye level and saw the reflection of people videotaping me and the gator. The gator had a pained look in her eyes that reminded me of the look Jason had before he burnt to death. I decided to end the pain and grabbed the gators’ snout in my jaws and ripped her head off. I swiveled my head to the right and looked straight into the camera. I let out a rumble and walked into the water, keeping my wings close to my body, I swam away into the darkness. I drank a few gulps of water to get the taste of blood out of my mouth even though I enjoyed it a bit.  
    At dawn I felt myself turning human. I shot up into the sky turning my scales sunset colors. I felt my wings shrink down a little then I raced to get back to the place. I was landing when my wings disappeared. I crashed down those last ten feet and felt something break. I pried myself off the wet grass and ran to the building. I blended into the walls and tried to find someone I knew. I passed by a computer with my eyes on it, my dragon eyes! I ran back to it and saw a video of me killing a gator. ‘Giant Gator Sighting!’ was the title.  
    “Oh thank God!” I slumped into a chair and rested my head on the keyboard. The person only caught my eyes, not my whole body. I got up and looked around for April. I couldn’t stop thinking about the video. It’s true that I look like a gator, but my legs are too long and my head is rounder and not as long or narrow. Plus the fact that I have WINGS. I returned outside to wait for April, since I could not find her inside. She was there searching the sky for my large shape. “I’m here.” I said behind her. She whipped around and hugged me.  
    “I thought you were hurt. After I saw that video I thought they went after you and killed you.”  She said mothering me. I heard her gasp when she felt some broken bones, especially my ribs, which were badly bruised.  
    “I’m fine I had a crash landing, but I didn’t get hurt badly.”  
    “Not that bad! Angel, you have broken ribs!”  
    .So? I had my whole back shredded to pieces before I came here. I got lost in the woods, with a broken arm! In one of my classes, someone threw me against a stone wall, just by using a stick and an incantation. You call this bad? I’ve killed a twelve foot lizard in less than five minutes! You saw what I did to it; it could’ve ended up much worse. If those people had a gun, they would’ve killed me right then and there. I got bitten by a damn vampire! This is from falling ten feet in the air. I can fend for myself! I don’t need a mom! My old one never let me in the house. She never made me dinner so I had to go out into the woods and hunt. If I ever shifted she would bind me to the tallest tree nearby, wrap my muzzle up and leave me there for the rest of the day. Whenever I didn’t do what she told me to do, because I was sick or emotionally unstable, she would take the thickest belt in the house, and slap me right across the face with it. I didn’t go to school or play with the other kids because she never bought me clothes. I had to make my own clothes out of leaves and sew it together with blades of grass. So I always had a cold. All teenagers think their lives suck right? Their lives are heaven compared to mine! They get bullied at school, or their parents are divorced, I got attacked by rattlesnakes, and I had to live in a dog house. Girls worrying about their clothes or hair? I had to worry about my leaf clothes drying out and crinkling when I was on the hunt.” I know I’m being a stereo typical teenager but I don’t really care about that anymore. “I knew it was a mistake to come here. I’m sorry April, but I should have left when I tried to yesterday. Keep giving others hope.” I started to run away into the nearby trees. At the last second before I was hidden I turned around and waved goodbye.   
  



	9. Chapter 9

I waited till I was completely hidden for me to shift. Shifting while you have broken bones is very painful. I grabbed a handful of leaves and shoved them into my mouth. I started to shift and pain shot into my chest. I screamed into the leaves and fell over onto my side. The entire process took about an hour. I stood up on four legs and jumped into the sky. I shook my head and rocketed north towards the Appalachian mountains. I flew for five days and nights without stopping. I circled around the mountains till I found a cave large enough for me to land in. I lowered myself into the cave careful not to fall on my belly too hard. I lay down on my side and tried to shift back to normal, without roaring in pain of course. It was harder to shift back than it was to shift into a dragon. By the end I was panting from exhaustion.  That’s when I took in my surroundings. At the back of the cave was a tunnel that was about ten feet high and three feet wide. There were ledges that held small packages wrapped in fabric. I looked to my left and there was a little girl about ten years old. I jolted up and saw I was surrounded by little girls. The oldest thirteen, and the youngest seven. Instinctively I covered up my body with my wings. They all gasped.  
           “Um… who are you people? Are you dragons also?” I said nervously.  
           “Yes. We are also dragons. But the better question would be: who are you?” the oldest said. “You’re not one of the tribe, and you can shift one part of your body without trying.”  
           “I’m Angel. I have been living in the human world for fourteen years.” More gasps. All the girls huddled in a corner and the packages moved. I saw a little greenish blond haired boy about thirteen pop his head out and walk to the crowd of girls. More little boys came out and joined the girls. I only heard one word from the conversations. “Prophecy.” I got up and stumbled around and took in my surroundings. The ledges were the perfect size for someone to sleep on. Tucked at the end of each ledge were large clothes. I went to the edge of the tunnel and peered in. It seemed to go pretty far back. I looked back and the kids were still huddled around. I went back to the middle of the room and sat down. I grew really bored waiting so I tried to blend into my surroundings and sneak closer to the kids.  
           “If she is part of the prophecy-“  
           “The prophecy says ‘a blood red dragon, named after the servants of god and born of magic, fire, and air, will save dragon kind. After living with humans for fourteen years, she will unite the dragons with humans, or destroy mankind and dragons will rule for all eternity. She with three others will determine the fate of the world. The first will be the male she is destined to mate with for life, second a human she met on her fourteenth hatching day, last is a young wizard believed to have been killed in a fight for territory.’ it has to be her.”  
           “We don’t have enough evidence!”  
           “She’s blood red, her name is Angel, and lived in the human world for fourteen years. What more do we need?”  
           “Well, if she met someone on her fourteenth hatching day and thought someone was killed in a fight.”       
           I couldn’t listen anymore. I walked back to the center of the cave, still hidden, and lay down. I was part of a prophecy. All my life and no one told me. My father probably told my mother, and my mom didn’t want to be a part of it, so she pushed me out of her life. Was she afraid I would kill her? Did she think that leaving me in the wild and abusing me was a good idea? That I wouldn’t get any ideas about killing the entire human race?  
           I didn’t know any humans, so I couldn’t blame them for what happened to me. Yes I was always the outcast, but it was because of who I am. I would go into the woods and come out unscathed. I had immense power in all my classes; in transformation class I turned myself into a dragon, and no one suspected a thing, even though I didn’t use my wand. From then I on I was my halls mascot. I even tried out. No one really teased me about it, but I was still ignored. I was fine with it. I repelled people and didn’t talk unless called on. The older kids picked on me when I came back from the woods every single day.  
           A human met on her fourteenth birthday. That could be one of three people: April, Austin, or Zoey.  A young wizard thought to be killed in a fight for territory. Jason! Is he still alive? Or was it a different fight between two others? My mate for life. I like I sound of that. I wonder who that could be. Is he hot? Or is he sweet? Maybe both! Whoever the three are, we will determine what happens to dragon kind. A lot of work for a fourteen year old.  
           “Okay, we have decided- where did she go?” the boy with greenish-blonde hair said.  
           “I’m still here.” I said making myself visible. They all jumped.  
           “Did you hear what we were talking about?”  
           “Only a little. Something about a prophecy, I didn’t really get it. Just that a red dragon and three others will determine the fate of dragon kind.”  
           “Well, we don’t have to explain the whole thing. We decided that you are the dragon of prophecy, and you may stay with us for as long as you please.”  
           “Okay. so? I’m not going to the human world for a long time. Too much heartbreak, and hard to stay blended in. I even gave up on life multiple times. Something kept me alive. Like, I was destined to. Maybe, I’ll find out why.”  
           “Well, it’s time for you to see your new home.” Said a purple haired girl holding her hand out to help pull me up. I reluctantly got up and followed her to a pile of clothes. She rummaged through for a bit then pulled out a long t-shirt and jeans, along with a bra and underwear. I quickly got dressed and followed her to the tunnel. The green hair kid stopped her and took over. He led me down the tunnel and into a huge cave filled with people. It was surprisingly well lit, considering it was under ground. Everywhere I looked, there were people with different colored hair. I was the only one with red hair. People gave me weird looks and I felt like disappearing.  
           “It’s okay, red dragons are rare. They’re usually the largest and most powerful. That and fire doesn’t hurt them. Most of the time they lead the tribes.” He said when he saw I was looking down. “I’m Skixol, by the way.”  
           “Nice to meet you Skixol. Where are we going?”  
           “I’m going to introduce you to our tribe leader Akiten. She’s nice once you get to know her, but she gets angry easily.”  
           “I’ll remember that.”  
           “You know it’s rare for dragons, even red ones, to be able to shift only part of their bodies?”  
           “Really? I’ve been doing it for a while now. I’ve also had visions in my sleep. Is that normal?”  
           “Nope. Like I said reds are the most powerful. No one knows what they are capable of. The redder the more power. Especially if they’re half witch or wizard.” I stopped walking. Half witch, red, most powerful. “What’s wrong?”  
           “I’m half witch. ‘born of magic, fire, and air.’ My mom’s a witch, magic, and my dad’s a dragon, fire and air. ‘blood red.’ the redder the more power. Does this mean I’m the most powerful dragon of all time?”  
           “Possibly. Just forget about it. Okay?” I nodded. “Good.” From then on Skixol kept talking; I was lost in thought though. I could be the most powerful dragon of all time.  
           “Skixol, I have to know something, but I need to know if this works on everything.”  
           “Okay, what is it?”  
           “I have to look into your eyes. This won’t hurt but I have to know.”  He nodded. I stared into his eyes and saw memories, like everyone else I looked into eyes. His eyes were a forest green. I ripped my eyes away. “Oh god. It actually worked. I’m doomed; I won’t be able to do anything. No fights or hunting. This is awful.”  
           “What? Did you see into my soul?” he teased. I didn’t say anything. Do memories count as your soul? “Oh god. Please tell me you’re joking.”   
           “I won’t. But you can’t tell anyone! I’ll be killed. Please!” a pause.  
           “Fine, only because you asked. That and I don’t know what you saw. I’ll keep your secret if you keep what you saw silent. Deal?”  
           “Deal. So you never kissed a girl huh?”  
           “Ughh.”  
           “Just joking.” I laughed. “If makes you feel better, I never really kissed a guy before. Well, he kissed me but I was passed out.”  
           “We’re here.” He said standing in front of a quilt hanging over an opening. “Your majesty, may we come in?” Skixol yelled.  
           “Come in.” said a female voice.  
           “Follow my lead.” He whispered. He held back the quilt, enough for both of us to fit through, and walked into the cavern. He walked to the middle of the room and bowed down; I did the same standing next to him, my long hair covering my face. I heard someone gasp.  
           “Another Red! Girl, stand up so I may see your face.” I stood up and saw a young woman with red hair sitting on a throne. I avoided her eyes and studied her face. She was beautiful; she had full lips, high cheekbones, and perfectly set eyes. She reminded me of a supermodel found on magazine covers. “Skixol, who is this girl?”  
           “Your majesty, the other guards and I believe she is the dragon of legend.” He said straightening out. “Her name is Angel, and her scales were blood red when she landed in the entrance cave. And when she saw us in her human form, she sprouted wings without thinking.”  
           Another gasp. “Is this true Angel?”  
           “Yes ma’am.”  
           “Is there anything else you can do?”  
           “Yes.”  
           “Please, show me.” I nodded. I took a breath and disappeared into my surroundings. I appeared again. “Skixol, please go. We have much to discuss young lady.”  
           “Yes ma’am.” Skixol said bowing again and walked out.  
           “Is it true you are the dragon of prophecy?”  
           “I’m not sure, I have not heard about it till ten minutes ago. But from what I have heard, it may be true.”  
           “What other powers do you have?”  
           “I can see the future in my sleep, and if I look into someone’s eyes,” I paused “I can see their memories.”  
           “Never have I met a dragon with so much power. Tell me, are you half witch?” this surprised me.  
           “Yes, how did you know?”  
           “The prophecy. Duh. ‘born of magic, fire, and air.’ Magic, witches, fire and air, dragon. Quite simple when you think about it. I’ve been this tribe’s leader for less than a year, and even the old leader didn’t figure it out.”  
  
  
           “Wow. I never really told anyone about me only being half witch. I was told that red dragons are the most powerful, and they’re even more powerful if they’re half witch or wizard.”  
    “Yep. And the redder the more power. For example, blood red is the reddest you can get and that very rarely happens. The last leader was blood red and he went looking for his daughter last year. Me, being the only other red, took his place.”  
    “The last leader was blood red?”  
    “Yeah. He left his daughter in the human world for thirteen years. He got worried that she wouldn’t have unlocked her powers yet.”  
    “She did. And she finally met him and didn’t believe him, so she ignored him. He haunted her for a while before she ran away from the school she was at. She got in a fight with another dragon and he saved her from death. But that didn’t help the fact that a loved one died and she went mad with sadness. She jumped off a cliff and he saved her from death, again.”  
    “ Are you saying that you know who his daughter is?”  
    “It’s me. He’s my dad. I met him when I was lost in the woods injured. I forced him away and made it back safely. I can’t believe I did that. I’m a terrible daughter. I was just so mad that he ignored me my whole life. I went through so much and I never met him. I didn’t even give him a chance.” I felt hot tears slide down my face as I said that last sentence.  
    “We dragons don’t even know who our parents are. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Living in the human world gave you feelings you wouldn’t have if you were raised here. Sadness doesn’t exist here. You’ll be happy here. You don’t have to worry about simple things either. I wasn’t raised like other colored dragons. i was raised like a princess. And now I’m queen. Later when you develop all your powers, you can challenge me for the throne. Until then, you’re the new princess. No heartbreak for you. And the best part,” she lowered her voice “all the guys will try to be your mate. Skixol seemed like he likes you.”   
    “Really?” I said a little too eager.  
    “Yeah. Either that or the guards is having all young males try to be your mate.”  
    “Oh. Yeah, I doubt I could get someone to like me.”  
“Don’t say that. You can get all the things you want, and we can give you a killer makeover.”  
“ Well, if you say so Akiten.”  
“Good girl. Lets go get you out of those ratty old clothes.”  
Two hours later my hair was put up in an elegant bun, makeup was all over my face, I had the most beautiful red dress ever, and I smelled like flowers. I was admiring myself in the mirror when someone knocked on the door.   
    “Come in!” I yelled over my shoulder as Skixol walked in.   
    “Sorry if you were busy ma’am.”  
    “Call me Angel. And no I wasn’t busy.”  
    “I came to take you to dinner.”  
    “Okay.” I put on some heels, ‘cause those were the only type of shoes in the closet, and followed him out the door. I stumbled a couple of times before I got the hang of it and we made it to another large cave full of people. As soon as I walked in everyone got up and bowed. I blushed crimson and followed Skixol to where Akiten was sitting.   
    Akiten stood up and started talking. “Everyone, this young girl here is Angel. The dragon of prophecy. She has proven to me that she has more power than any other dragon here-”  
    “How do you know?” yelled a purple headed women.  
    “Well-”  
    “I’ll show you.” I said. Gasps.  
“Angel, let me handle this.”  
“No. I can fend for myself. If they want proof, they’ll get it.” If not all dragons can blend into their surroundings or shift part of their body, I guess that’s what I’ll do. Thank god my back was exposed in this dress. I rolled my shoulders and popped my wings out. I flared them out and stretched them to their full size. My eyes turned crimson and everyone gasped. I went back to normal and smiled at their awe.   
“If you don’t call that proof, I have no idea what is.”   
“Go Queen Angel! Queen Angel! Queen Angel!” Chanted half the room.  
“What? I’m not your queen! Akiten is! I’m not going to take the throne when I don’t want to! I have no desire to rule over people I just met! Or anyone at all! I’m just a kid!”   
    “Queen Angel! Queen Angel!”   
    “STOP IT!” I roared. I blended into the wall and ran away. I took off my heels and kept running to the room I was in. I slammed the door and laid against it. I liked it better when I was alone half the time.   
  



	10. Chapter 10

“Angel? Are you in there?” asked Skixol as he knocked on the door.  
    “Leave me alone.”  
    “Come on. Tell me what’s wrong.”  
    “I don’t want to be queen. I don’t want to rule over anyone. I don’t want to decide the fate of the world.”  
    “Why?”  
    “My mother was a tyrant. I’m afraid that if I have to be ruler, I’ll become her. I wasn’t allowed to have any fun.”  
    “I’m sure that won’t happen.”  
    “Have you met my mother? And I’m half her.”  
    “Can I come in?” I got up and opened the door. “I figured you would be hungry so brought some food.” he said walking in. “Sorry if it’s a little cold.”  
    “It’ll be fine.” I was bored earlier so I tried some new tricks involving fire. I concentrated on lighting my hand up and held it under the plate. My hand blazed bright red and went out again. “Come on.” It blazed again and stayed that way for a bit. I cut off the flame as it started to creep up my arm. “There we go. Nice and hot again.” I took a bite. “Too hot.”   
    “Nice trick. Scary, but cool.” Skixol complemented.  
    “It’s nothing. I was messing around and that happened.”  
    “Well I like it. You think I could do it if I tried?”  
    “Doubt it. It could come in handy sometime. Like, in the middle of the night and I have to sneak around.”   
    “Cover yourself behind your wings, blend in to the walls and use that as a light. If you decide to sneak out of the caves would be a good time.”  
    “Yeah. Like for when I visit friends in the human world.”  
    “You’re already talking like one of us.”  
    “I guess I am.” God he’s cute.  
    “So, I was wondering, um … do you want to hang out?” Wait, what? Did he just ask me out?   
    “Sure.” Sure? That the best I could of said? “I mean yes.” I could kill myself right now.  
    “Oh... okay. Pick you up in an hour?”  
    “Whatever works.”  
    “See you soon.” He walked out. I flopped on top of the bed smiling. What was I going to wear? I can’t go in this dress. We might go into the human world. I would look out of place. I looked in the closet testing out clothes. All I had were dresses, skirts, and super skinny skinny-jeans. I chose a pair of jeans and a tight black blouse with my shoulders showing and came back just above my elbows. I put on a pair of golden heels then kept looking around for jewelry or different makeup. I found a golden necklace with matching earrings. I scrubbed my makeup off and replaced it with very light eye shadow and just a touch of lipstick. I put my hair in a messy braid and looked for other things I could put on. I found nothing and sat back down. Next to the bed was a bookshelf with paper and pencils. I looked through the books and found classics such as Lord of the Rings, Frankenstein, and Dracula. I grabbed Frankenstein, lay back, and began to read. I just got through chapter one when someone knocked on the door. I got up and opened the door. Skixol stood there in jeans and a T-shirt instead of the green cotton shirt and linen pants he had on earlier.   
    “I thought only girls got dressed up for dates.” I teased.  
    “Ha,ha. I’m only dressed like this cause we’re going into the human world.”  
    “Oh!” I knew it! “ Let’s get going then.” I said walking to the left.  
    “Other way.”  
    “I knew that.” I said turning around. We walked out into the moonlight of the entrance cave and a purple dragon was laying down. Skixol walked right up without a second thought and sat on its neck. He held out his hand for me to come up. I ignored it and climbed up by myself.  
    “Hold on tight.” said the dragon. I wrapped my arms around Skixol as we took off.  
    “So where are we going?” I asked.  
    “You’ll see. Do you like carnivals?”  
    “Never been to one.”  
    “Really? I would say you live in a hole, but I do too.” I laughed at his joke. “What would you want to do first?”  
    “I’ve never been on a roller coaster.” I suggested.  
    “Coaster it is.” We pulled into the woods and I heard the roaring of a roller coaster. “Thanks Fldran.”  
    “No problem.” She said as she flew back. We walked towards the sounds of a carnival. The sight was amazing. I saw a huge roller coaster, a ferris wheel, games, and food I never knew could smell so awesome.  
    “Oh my god. This is amazing!” I exclaimed. Skixol laughed. He walked next to me towards the roller coaster. I was a kid in a candy store. Through the whole line I couldn’t stand still. When we got on the front row I was having second thoughts. It went far up high and zoomed through loops and twist and turns. On the sides were metal dragon wings. “What is this ride?” i wondered out loud.   
    “It’s called dragon flight.”  
    “That’s ironic.”  
    “Yeah. Don’t shift or you’ll break it.” he joked. I laughed.  
    “Ladies and gentlemen please keep your hands and feet inside the cart. Thank you and enjoy the ride.” boomed the speakers. And we were off. We sped along the tracks twisting and turning like we do in flight.   
    “This is amazing!” I yelled “It feels like I’m flying!” All too soon, it was over. We stopped at the look at your photo thing and laughed at our picture. “You look ridiculous!” He was in mid yell and his face was scrunched up. My eyes were blood red and had a mischievous gleam in them. I was smiling as if I knew that was where the camera was. I looked like a movie star. I gasped. Do I really look like that? We walked away from it smiling. We went on every ride and Skixol won me a large teddy bear at the ring toss. “How will we get back t the caves?” I asked when Skixol yawned.  
    “Someone will be here soon.” He said before whistling. I excused myself for a second because I didn’t feel so great. It wasn’t my period or anything, I just felt like I was gonna puke. I walked behind some bushes and puked up everything that was left in my stomach. I looked up from my position wiping my mouth when I saw a pair of feet. It was a man. He had red lips that he was licking.  
    “Are you okay?” he asked.  
    “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” I said standing up straight looking up at him. He was really tall. I shook as a wave nausea came over me. I turned to the side and threw up some more; the bandage on my bite coming off. The man’s eyes locked on the bite with a look of hunger. He lay his finger on it.  
    “How did this happen?” he asked hungrily.  
    “Mosquito bites.” I lied backing away. I tripped on a bush with thorns and I started to bleed as multiple thorns pierced my skin. The man jumped on top of my leg and started sucking the blood off my leg. “Stop!” I tried to escape but he had a firm grip on my leg. I kicked him with my other leg and he became really mad. He pounced on my chest and sucked on my older bite. Once again I couldn’t do anything to stop him. He took the chance of me being helpless and raped me. I was in pain. He was drinking all of my blood and at the same time rubbing his hands all over me. In my shirt, going in my cotton underwear. It was awful, tears were running down my cheeks. “Please, please, please stop.” I cried quietly. “I’m just a kid.” Those were my last words before I blacked out.  
  



End file.
